Patrick Peterson Offers Tease on Offseason Plans
Here’s a juicy secret: the 2023 Minnesota Vikings have three cornerbacks under contract as of early February, including Andrew Booth, Cameron Dantzler, and Akayleb Evans.
That must change for a team that espouses contending for a Super Bowl, so fans should reasonably expect that threesome to vary wildly in the next few months. And one modification might just be the return of Patrick Peterson in 2023.
Patrick Peterson Offers Tease on Offseason Plans
Peterson, 32, is an unrestricted free agent and can sign anywhere on March 15th. He spent the last two seasons with the Vikings under two different defensive schemes and coordinators.
But if his Twitter account is a reasonable indicator — it should be a decent one, right? — Peterson seemed to hint at a return to Minnesota in 2023. He tweeted this on Super Bowl Sunday:
That trio of emojis, coupled with the full Vikings uniform, appears to imply he isn’t going anywhere. Otherwise, he probably could’ve selected from a slew of photos not wearing Vikings colors — or not tweeted at all.
The semi-cryptic tweet arrived with free agency just four weeks away. Minnesota is underwater via the salary cap for now but is expected to release some veterans and restructure some contracts in the coming weeks to prepare for the offseason.
Peterson recorded a 77.8 Pro Football Focus grade in 2022, ranking 13th in the NFL among all cornerbacks. The LSU alumnus was also productive in 2021, his first season with the franchise, but he really turned back the clock to 2017 or so in Year Two with the Vikings. He and Duke Shelley effectively “saved the season” for the Vikings, as the defensive secondary was highly suspect otherwise.
About three weeks ago, Peterson said on the same All Things Covered show about staying in Minnesota, “I would love to be there in that purple and gold again and give it a run again just because I love the community there. I love the organization. I love the new regime that [was] brought into that building, the trainers, the strength and conditioning staff. It’s just amazing. I truly believe it felt like home for me. I felt like it was a place that I belonged. But we all know it’s a business.”
The next day, Peterson reaffirmed his plans to stay with the Vikings, telling CBS Sports, “I love it there,” in reference to Minneapolis and the Vikings organization.
But the plot thickened in late January when Carl Dukes of CBS Sports Radio tweeted, “Bryant McFadden just told us that Patrick Peterson would love to be in Atlanta with the Atlanta Falcons. He is a free agent.”
McFadden is Peterson’s cousin. Peterson’s alleged fascination with the Falcons was evidently contingent on Lamar Jackson joining the franchise — which is a longshot.
Before the 2022 season began, Peterson told the media he wanted to play three more seasons, and that’s two more as of right now. Unless his tweet on February 12th was misconstrued, at least one of those final seasons may be back in Minnesota.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.